I am going to expand on this discussion just a bit more, then I am finished. The information I have been sharing with you guys came directly from the tech dept at GM. I had questions many years ago regarding this very subject when I bought my first truck camper and was in the process of buying a heavy duty truck to handle it. Specifically the advertised payload vs gvw was my main sticking point, just as some of you seem to be stuck on this point. The dealership owner was a personal friend of mine and to satisfy my situation he got a tech on line for me and he pretty much went over the whole deal.
So what it really boils down to is that the trucks are capable of handling the advertised loads, even though the gvw numbers do not support it. Again IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY! Lots of customers buy these trucks for towing and do not need the capacity, they do not want to thrown into a commercial insurance situation, (remember the 10,000 gvw and private passenger deal), and high license costs for capacity they will never use. The mfg has to list a gvw as pretty much all states use gvw as a licensing base.
Now I am gonna tell you that I personally believe the engineer a whole lot more than something I read on an internet forum. His assurance and explanation made perfect sense to me and I accepted it. That plus I have been using my truck camper and also heavier loads for years without the slightest issue, just as he assured me it would, and it supports his explanation.
As previously stated I also understand that if I were to get stopped and weighed I am dead meat and will be looking at a hefty fine, however if I just increase my weight on the tag I am golden, as the previous poster noted. I also have some law enforcement friends and they assured me that as long as the truck does not look overloaded they will probably never bother me. They are really after the contractors etc and someone that is obviously overloaded.
The last scenario I am going to offer is this: Go buy a blazer, suburban, explorer, cherokee, durango or whatever and there is NO GVW. You can put whatever load you want on it and drive it anywhere and you cannot be fined! So legally I can put some unheard of amount of weight, for example 7000 lb in one of these vehicles and I am "safe" because there is no gvw on these vehicles! Plus the license cost is the same as a car, at least in PA.
So bottom line is that these heavy duty trucks will handle the advertised payload safely, although not legally unless you up the weight class on your license. Choose to believe whatever you want, I do not care. But remember one thing that is true in many situations. ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!
